Latin America

Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 07:47 UTC
Bolsonaro denies hunger in Brazil; FAO says 5.1 million are “undernourished”

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday there was no hunger in the country, citing the lack of “poor people in the street with a skeletal physique” as evidence. Speaking to foreign journalists, Bolsonaro blamed “populists” for propagating “a big lie” that some of Brazil's 209 million people did not have enough to eat.
Saturday, July 20th 2019 - 07:02 UTC
UK Armed Forces expected to receive a 2.9% increase before PM May steps down

Two million United Kingdom public service workers including the Armed Forces are reportedly set to be given a £2 billion pay rise. The Times reports that soldiers will receive an increase of 2.9%, while police officers and dentists/consultants will both receive a 2.5% pay rise.
Thursday, July 18th 2019 - 12:51 UTC
Power cuts in Cuba not due to shortage of oil, minister says

The Cuban government Wednesday explained the repeated blackouts in the country but are due to breakdowns in the electricity-producing machinery and not because of a shortage of oil that can be attributed to sanctions by the United States.
Wednesday, July 17th 2019 - 10:50 UTC
US Marshals arrest former Peruvian President Toledo pending extradition

Peru's fugitive President Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique has been arrested Tuesday in California following an extradition request filed a year ago by his country's authorities, it was reported by both US and Peruvian sources.
Tuesday, July 16th 2019 - 10:26 UTC
UK, Ecuador agree Assange not to be extradited where he could be executed

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will not be extradited to any country with capital punishment, Britain's Minister for the Americas and Europe, Alan Duncan announced Monday in Quito after a meeting with Ecuador's Foreign Minister José Valencia.
Tuesday, July 16th 2019 - 09:39 UTC
Colombia declares banana production farm in quarantine due to fear of fungus

A Colombian banana production farm near the Venezuelan border has been declared under quarantine after the possible outbreak of a lethal fungus has been detected, local authorities acknowledged Monday.
Monday, July 15th 2019 - 22:24 UTC
Chinese-built trains help renew Cuba's obsolete railways

For the first time since the 1970s, Cuba has new trains rolling on the island after the first train made up entirely of Chinese cars left Havana Friday on a 14-hour, 835-km journey to Santiago de Cuba, the second-largest city on the island.
Sunday, July 14th 2019 - 17:07 UTC
Bolivia downplays risk of Brazil withdrawing from bioceanic railway project

Bolivia's Foreign Trade Vice Minister Benjamín Blanco downplayed any risk that Brazil might opt out of the Bioceanic Railway Integration Corridor (CFBI) after the Brazilian ambassador said on Friday it was not a priority, amid fears that given the political differences between the two countries, the Bolsonaro administration might prefer a similar project with Argentina and Chile.
Sunday, July 14th 2019 - 08:29 UTC
World Travel Awards Latin America 2019 winners announced in La Paz, Bolivia

The finest travel brands in Latin America have been unveiled at a star-studded gala ceremony in Bolivia. The elite of the travel industry assembled for the World Travel Awards (WTA) Latin America Ceremony in the administrative capital, La Paz, to find out who amongst them would be crowned best of the best.
Friday, July 12th 2019 - 13:13 UTC
Humans came to the Americas earlier than thought, study shows

A study by a Texas university released Thursday sheds new light on the population of the Americas as it places humans in the continent 2,000 years before than science has been maintaining.